Beauty and Beast

I like to make my brain think about itself. I think about how the brain produces thought. I get a weird feeling when I reflect on the idea that my personality, body, and mind can be broken apart using science. That feeling is curiosity.

I wonder about the arrangement of the molecules and cells that create human thought and reasoning. I wonder about biology. Science ignites my childlike curiosity. Children are notorious for constantly pestering parents and adults with the question of “why?” Time seems to calm the ferocity with which we once explored and wondered. Science makes me feel like a small child again.

Science allows me to manipulate natural processes such as protein secretions and learn more about organisms. I want to explore the world of science and biology with the ferocity and passion of the curious child. Science class is only one side of science, in which understanding material and memorizing certain processes is the focus. There is also scientific research, which consists of applying science class material to nature and life. These sides are similar to the two sides of English, reading and writing.

Reading and science class are based on understanding other’s works. Writing and researching are about individuality and discovery. Though science is not usually seen as a creative outlet, I think research is a creative process in a way similar to writing or composing music. I know that I am a scientist in the way that a painter knows he’s an artist. I think that science is a perfect blend of idealism and practicality.

Though the search for truth and discovery of nature may seem ideological, we can make it reality through the practical tasks of science. Though a cure for cancer may seem beyond human capability, scientists are closing in on that dream. Drugs for chemotherapy may seem to be a magical blend of chemicals, but they are actually the work of scientists. Drugs to treat cancer act on specific proteins and pathways in cells that were found through experimentation and hard work. Researchers are not superhuman; instead they are passionate scientists who are making wishes of disease prevention and treatment come true through an understanding of nature and experimentation.

Nature is both a beauty and a beast. The beauty of nature lies in love, art and intellect. The beast of nature lies in death, destruction, and ignorance. Cancer is an agent of beastly nature. Humans have the ability to transcend the animalistic barrier and practice science.

By practicing science and studying nature, we can tame the beast. Though cancer may seem to be a scary enemy with intentions of destruction, it is really just a disorder of biochemical processes. I crave science research because I see the beauty in it and I want to tame the beast.